I’ve been working on my Bluesfest schedule, an annual act of futility since all bets are off once the festival is actually underway – between overlapping shows, meeting up with random people who have different priorities, and just plain exhaustion and/or drunkenness, it’s damn near impossible to catch everything you set out to during the fest.
This year’s addition of the Byward Blues shows in the Market area really throw a wrench into the works – I’d love to catch more of the shows down there, but when there’s stuff going on at both sites, I can’t imagine finding a way between them that would be convenient and quick enough. Some of the late night shows will be good though – I’m glad that Thunderheist is doing a late show on July 12, since earlier in the day they’re scheduled against Girl Talk – a difficult choice I wasn’t looking forward to making.
Without further adieu, what follows is my Possibly Impossible List of Bands I want to see at Bluesfest 2009:
The Black Keys
Jeff Beck
Marie-Josee Houle
Holy Fuck
Ana Miura
Metric
George Clinton and Parliament
Iron & Wine
Ben Harper and Relentless7
RJD2
Graham Walsh (HOLY FUCK) DJ Set
The Stills
The Proclaimers
Sam Roberts Band
Arrested Development
DeVotchKa
Jackson Browne
United Steel Workers of Montreal
Hey Rosetta!
Lee Scratch Perry
Matisyahu
Land of Talk
King Khan & BBQ Show
Girl Talk
Neko Case
Thunderheist
Broken Social Scene
Joe Cocker
Los Lonely Boys
Thunderheist
Mistress Barbara
Kid Koala
Stone Temple Pilots
Ice Cube
Xavier Rudd
Spam Allstars
Arkells
Silent Disco
K’NAAN
KISS
Skydiggers
Shout Out Out Out Out
Busta Rhymes
LIVE
Mick Taylor
Styx
Les Claypool
CAKE
Hollerado
Ludacris
Drive-By Truckers
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Handsome Furs
The Dead Weather
Yeah Yeah Yeahs